GIGABYTE GA-MA770-UD3 AM2+/AM3 Motherboard Review

Overclocking Results

First and foremost, if you are completely new to Phenom II overclocking we highly recommend that you check out our article on the subject, aptly titled "Hardware Canucks: Benchmarkers Guide to the Phenom II". Although it is limited to the AM2+ versions, the fundamentals remain the same as with the new Phenom II AM3 processors.

In our tests, we will be using a Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition processor, codename 'Heka'. This triple-core model features a 2.8Ghz clock speed, 1.5MB of L2 cache, 6MB of L3 cache, and most important for our purposes, fully unlocked CPU multipliers. As a result, we will be able to determine what kind CPU bus speeds this motherboard is capable of. We'll also be verifying how well the processor scales on this budget model, and whether it can keep up with the higher-end ASUS M4A78T-E. Since this is a DDR2 motherboard, we will checking out how much memory overclocking headroom the AM3 processor's integrated memory controller has with DDR2 memory. Lastly, our overall system overclock represents the best combination of CPU, bus, and memory speeds to form the overclocked configuration that we will use in the benchmarking section.Across four results, we Cool'n'Quiet was disabled in the BIOS, and we kept the CPU/NB frequency and HT Link speed as close as possible to the default 2000Mhz.

So without further ado, let's move onto the results:


Athlon II and Phenom II processors have a bus frequency that is generated and thus limited by the motherboard. Although this frequency is more or less relevant for those with unlocked Black Edition chips, those who purchase locked models will need to increase this bus frequency in order to overclock their processors. As you can see above, despite its budget roots, the MA770-UD3 proved to have a lot of bus overclocking headroom. From the stock 200Mhz, we were able to achieve a surprising 315Mhz. To put that into perspective, no matter what current Athlon II/Phenom II model you own, you would have enough bus frequency headroom to be able to hit up to a 4.1Ghz core clock. This result was a piece of cake to achieve as well. We just set the CPU and memory multiplier, left all the voltage options on AUTO, and started increasing bus frequency until we found the high mark. The motherboard automatically adjusted the HT Link and CPU NB (ie: cache/integrated memory controller) frequency, and it also selected a nothbridge voltage that we consider safe for this chipset (1.25V).

We are happy to report that we didn't notice any FSB holes on this model, which is an issue that has been affecting a few AMD 7xx series motherboards.


CPU overclocking on this motherboard was a positive experience. We were able to overclock our so-so Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition processor from its stock 2.8Ghz up to 3.65Ghz with 1.525 vCore. Now those of you who have read our ASUS M4A78T-E review will know that we were able to achieve over 3.7Ghz on that model. Why the difference? Simply put, to achieve 3.7Ghz our chip needs 1.55vCore, and when we attempted that combo the system would fail to load Windows. Adding more vCore didn't resolve the problem either. We could run at 2.8-3.0-3.2-3.4-3.6Ghz with 1.55Vcore without issue, but once we reached that 3.7Ghz mark, the ability to boot into Windows went out the Window. Could this simply be a small issue with our sample? Absolutely, but let's be honest, if you are planning on running a 1.55 vCore 24/7 and reaching a near 4.0Ghz clock speed, investing in an overclocking-oriented motherboard would be wise.


When we first got our hands on this motherboard we were definitely interested in finding out how well the new AM3 processors cope when dealing with DDR2 memory. Although AMD specifies the maximum memory speed as DDR2-1066, Gigabyte have validated this model for operation up to DDR2-1200. Regrettably, we believe that this motherboard may have curtailed our attempts. As mentioned in the BIOS section, the maximum selectable memory voltage is a relatively mild 2.175V. While this is overkill for nearly all of the newest 4GB kits, our older Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400 modules respond well to additional voltage and that is likely what stopped our progress at a respectable DDR2-1179 5-5-5. Having said that, we searched extensively on various forums to see if anyone was running at DDR2-1200+ 24/7 with an AM3 procesor, but couldn't find any such cases. Either way, this result could be achieved by leaving the CPU/NB voltage on AUTO, but even increasing it up to a heady 1.475V didn't provide any additional stable memory overclocking headroom.



Our overall system overclock perfectly combines the highest CPU overclock with the highest memory overclock: 3.65Ghz CPU clock/DDR2-1179 memory clock. This is what we would run on a 24/7 basis, and it will serve as the overclocked configuration in our subsequent benchmarking section.


Overall, we had a fairly pleasant experience overclocking with the MA770-UD3. Despite its barebones price, it handled hefty overclocks and was able to push our hardware to very respectable heights. Yes, there were a few hiccups here and there when attempting to push the limits, but for those seeking sane 24/7 overclocks, this motherboard should provide a problem-free experience.